A Pullman Standard railcar that has returned home to become a historical marker. It sits in front of the new transit authority bus station in the center of the Pullman business park. It was built at the Pullman Standard's Butler Plant in June 1974 (plant closed in 1982 and was demolished in 2005) and is a covered hopper car that carried grain. It was donated by GATX, transported back from Canada, restored in New Castle and sent back to Butler in Feb 2011. A more fitting memorial that just a plaque to the old plant and its workers.
Photo and text: Robert Osborn
22 comments:
Nice touch
"The Bus" is such a huge waste of taxpayer money. Millions and millions of dollars so a handful of welfare bums can ride around in style. It would have cost a lot less to buy them each there own can. I am not even kidding. Look at the busses. They are always near empty.
Remember to work hard. Millions on welfare are depending on YOU!
do you have a high resolution image of this file?
tony@stonitsch.net
When Pullman Standarad closed, I was saddened. What I remember, is the silence that left those railroad cars left behind. It made death happen in Lyndora, PA. See, I was born in Lyndora in 1956,and the memories will remain forever in my mind, soul and heart. It will live forever!!!
Does anyone remember Floraynell's bar on Hansen Ave.? I sure do:) Every day at noon, the whistle blew and the men came from work on their lunch break. See, there was a hugh smoke stack....it was used to mark the time and the time was easy to see because it was lunch time and Floraynell's boomed. It was a childhood memory that will last forever and the shopping mart that is there now is nothing but a sore eye that covered up the past. Beautiful Lyndora....Red row houses that once stood and the growth of the nation that made us a family back in time. The 30's into the 1982 was something to proud of.
Floraynell's was one of those classic shot and a beer, neighborhood joints, where alcoholism took root early and often for many. Pullman had a much higher injury rate than Armco; the Armco employees weren't permitted to leave the plant for lunch; the Pullman workers, as you rightly said, would race across Hansen Avenue when the lunch whistle blew to pound a few boiler makers, which were often lined up on the bar, before going back to 'the slaugherhouse.' Wonder if there is a connection? Wonder if maybe that's one reason the plant closed. Funny, with all the competition nationally and worldwide, Armco, right down the road is still here. Hmmmm....
Smolen's and Rudy's too!
Regarding the closing of Pullman....The late 70's and early 80's were a difficult time in the United States, economically speaking.
That being said, there were difficulties between labor and management at the time. If I recall correctly, there was a large order pending for "cars" that would keep the plant open for nearly 2 years without any other orders that may have been placed. But, it all hinged on a 50 cent an hour wage concession which the union turned down……Thus shutting down the plant forever.
It appears that a union card was once again a ticket to the unemployment line.
Unions have destroyed the American job market.
I don't know how unions have destroyed anything these days, seeing as how less than 25 percent of the American workforce is unionized....
The unions have chased many companies out of America. Funny how union people keep their heads in the sand.
Do you have a job? Do you work 8 hrs a day? Do you have weekends off? Have you had a raise in your pay? Do you get paid holidays? Are you treated with respect at work? Is your place of employment safe? Whether you are a union member or not, you only have unions to thank for the rights you have today.
The unions were great until they got to be more powerful than the companies that they worked for. Look at Detroit as an example. Union lovers continue to perpetuate the lie that unions do only good things for workes. What about when you no longer have a job? What good is your union going to do for you then? These union junkies look at the union like it's their mommy and daddy and it will protect them from the evil rich people that own the factory. You sheep that followed the unions off the cliff deserve what you got!
I have a job, make good money, have holidays off, work 40 hours a week, I am treeted with respect, the work place is safe, I take very nice vacations. I own a small business and I don't need some union thug telling me what to do. I love watching the unions die. It can't happen soon enough.
I don't thank unions for anything that I have today. Oh, I forgot, I have owned a few piece of junk cars that were made by high paid union workers up north.
Amazing that even a nice, homespun, harmless little apolitical blog like this one can still draw the nutballs from all sides. There's just NOT a liberal or conservative conspiracy under every picture, under every bed in America. Just a bunch of little d's, if you know what I mean...
Dang! All this from a pic of a railcar...jeeze! I just wanted to say that my 2 yr old loves the railcar and begs me to drive by it everytime we go to the bank. Sorry I dont have anything bad to say to keep up with the rest of the posts.
Does anybody remember the Pullman Building being used for Junior Achievement in the 60's? We had a great time learning about business there.
I am a native of Delaware. However, I lived on Hanson Avenue between Rudy's & Smolen's from 1961-1963. My mother was a Riviter at Pullman, Betty Ross. My stepfather, John Narabetski, a Heater at Armco. I graduated from BAHS in 1963.
R. Cooper Moor
I went to the Junior Achievement in the Basement of the Pullman Office Building in the 60's. We covered brandy snifters with broken colored glass and grouted the joints. They were used for votive candles and reflected colored light. Seems silly now.
"The Bus" is funded by the PA lottery, not taxes. Yes, a lot of the riders are on assistance. Most are seniors that are still able to be independant. Some are hard workers dealt a bad blow and need transportation. Many are confined to wheelchairs and can't afford an adapted vehicle. If you object to them having the freedom to go where they need or want to, rest assured. Unless you waste money on lottery tickets, you aren't paying for it.
Post a Comment